Frank Grover on Ch. Berman Brier

The following was one of Frank’s favorite and most memorable projects in his own words...

"One of my first writings about Dobermans was in early October of 1957. At the time, the 1957 Specialty Show of the Chicagoland Doberman Pinscher Club (now out of existence) was imminent. In 1955, the Chicagoland show had the largest entry of Dobermans in the country, topping by a few dogs even the National Specialty of that year. In 1956, the Chicagoland show was even larger and exceeded the National by a fair percentage. In 1957, the club decided to invite a judge from Germany. This was the first time since 1939 a German Authority had judged in the United States. Contact was made with the Dobermann Verein and Herr Willi Rothfuss was recommended. He was the owner of Jessie vd Sonnenhoehe, the breeder of her father, and of Ferry von Rauhfelsen who won Best in Show at Westminster in 1939. He was the chairman of the Doberman judges in Germany, a position of great authority and prestige. We had close to 200 Dobermans coming from all over the nation. No show of this size had been held in the United States, and the Chicagland Club wanted to do everything possible to make it memorable. It had been decided to publish in the show catalog several articles about the Doberman as a way to promote the breed to those who came to this great show. As we put the catalog together, an article seemed needed about Dobermans in general. So without much chance for reflection and none for revision, I wrote an introduction called the Doberman Pinscher.

"The show itself was a dramatic event. Such dogs were shown as Defender of Jan Har, Stebs Top Skipper, and Borong The Warlock. Mrs. Bob Adamson handled an 18-month-old son of Damasyn the Solitaire named Berman Brier. He was a gorgeous animal, beautifully proportioned with excellent head and perfect height and bulk. Under Mrs. Adamson’s easy handling (she used a ball to keep him alert at the right moments) Brier won his class, then Winners Dog, then Best of winners, and then after 14 hours of steady judging by Herr Willi Rothfuss, Brier won Best of Breed."